𝗘𝗩𝗘𝗡 𝗧𝗛𝗢𝗨𝗚𝗛 𝗣𝗥𝗜𝗠𝗘 𝗠𝗜𝗡𝗜𝗦𝗧𝗘𝗥 𝗧𝗥𝗨𝗗𝗘𝗔𝗨 𝗣𝗥𝗘𝗧𝗘𝗡𝗗𝗦 𝗧𝗢 𝗣𝗟𝗔𝗬 𝗔𝗟𝗢𝗡𝗚, 𝗖𝗔𝗡𝗔𝗗𝗜𝗔𝗡𝗦 𝗔𝗥𝗘 𝗧𝗢𝗧𝗔𝗟𝗟𝗬 𝗣𝗜𝗦𝗦𝗘𝗗 𝗔𝗧 𝗧𝗥𝗨𝗠𝗣'𝗦 𝗧𝗔𝗥𝗜𝗙𝗙 𝗧𝗛𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗧𝗦!!!

                                                              

As someone with ties to Canada and considerable experience interacting with Canadians, I've been curious about their reaction to Trump's tariff threats.

In my personal experience, Canadians are proud, independent people, generally better educated than Americans.  University education is more affordable and medical care in Canada is essentially free, although some drugs and dental care may not be covered.  No, they don't have the military of the U.S., but don't call them sissies.  They're tough, rugged, self-sufficient people, living in a fairly harsh climate.

Let me just say that with respect to Trump's tariff threats, Canadians are pissed!

I located a website dealing with the matter that had over 9,000 responses.  I posted the first couple dozen below, most from Canadians, removing the names and email addresses:

                                                                 

 

Every other Canadian I talk to will still  boycott American products especially products from red states like bourbon from Wyoming and Kentucky until Trump is gone.  We were also tariffing Tesla by 100%

Just cancelled my trips to the U.S. and am only purchasing Canadian goods. Trust is broken. Cannot support a country that has Trump and Musk at the helm.

As a Canadian, still boycotting as long as the Orange con artist is still in power. That includes travel.

We as Canadians will never forget this. We are still pissed.

As a proud Canadian 🇨🇦, I really hate Trump

Im sick of the guns and fentanyl that's coming into Canada too, and they are coming in from the U.S. they are the ones smuggling guns and fentanyl into Canada!

Well done PM Trudeau..  You played the Republican Party like a bunch of fools...

Canadian here. I was watching the news all day yesterday, and it was just hours and hours of Canadian business owners explaining how they've already managed to cut the USA completely out of their business models. Mexico was ready and willing to step up in a lot of areas. New contracts have already been established for a lot of Canadian manufacturers and distributors. This strengthened the trade partnership between Canada and Mexico ensuring that they don't need to rely on America for anything anymore. The US is gonna suffer the consequence of this tarrif-threat situation for a long time to come, I believe.

The damage is already done.  Canadians are done buying American products.

I’m still boycotting. I’m a chef and already changing my menu to all Canadian products.already got rid of the American liquor. Nothing American in my restaurant.

Proud Québecois and Canadian here, the alcohol imported from the US has been taken off the shelves of all liquor stores in the province. There is a widespread movement to boycott American products. A friend I spoke with this morning is shopping for a car and confirmed he will not buy a car imported from the US. The movement will continue, the damage done to Canadians is deep.

I'm an American, and I have disliked the convicted felon since the 1980s. I have despised him since 2016.

And do NOT expect my fellow Canadians to let bygones be bygones. "Buy Canadian"

I don’t care if his tariffs are “ paused” for 30 days. It’s basically blackmail and I for one am boycotting all US travel, Amazon purchases etc until he is gone. I will spend my $$ in Canada or the EU.

 Canadians are still pissed. In my small town, we have removed all American wine and liquor. I have cancelled my trip next summer to the USA and everyone I know is not going to forgive him for threatening our sovereignty we are proud and we are angry we will continue our boycott of all things USA until this is over.

The damage has been done America. Canadians are pissed. You don't treat us this way. We hold grudges for a long time..  We wont forget.

The orange one will never understand the integrity of Canadians.

🇨🇦Here. I am not backing down. I dont trust Trump as far as i can throw him. Will continue to purchase Made In CANADA ONLY.

𝗜𝗧'𝗦 𝗚𝗢𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗧𝗢 𝗕𝗘 𝗔 𝗖𝗢𝗡𝗦𝗧𝗔𝗡𝗧 𝗙𝗜𝗚𝗛𝗧 𝗧𝗢 𝗠𝗔𝗜𝗡𝗧𝗔𝗜𝗡 𝗔 𝗙𝗥𝗘𝗘 𝗣𝗥𝗘𝗦𝗦 𝗨𝗡𝗗𝗘𝗥 𝗔 𝗧𝗥𝗨𝗠𝗣 𝗣𝗥𝗘𝗦𝗜𝗗𝗘𝗡𝗖𝗬

                                    

While the First Amendment to the Constitution protects a free press, President Trump is following the Joseph Stalin and Viktor Orban model of eliminating an independent, free press, initially calling them "fake news," but now, going much further in damning them as "the enemy of the people."

Before this past election, Donald Trump posted this about National Public Radio: 

"NO MORE FUNDING FOR NPR, A TOTAL SCAM! EDITOR SAID THEY HAVE NO REPUBLICANS, AND IS ONLY USED TO 'DAMAGE TRUMP'" "THEY ARE A LIBERAL DISINFORMATION MACHINE. NOT ONE DOLLAR!!!"

A.G. Sulzenberger, the editor of The New York Times, recently wrote an editorial published in The Washington Post, dealing with the threat Trump poses to the Free Press.

After first mentioning what Prime Minister Viktor Orban has done in Hungary in rooting out any coverage critical of his administration, Sulzenberger added:

"I’ve been asked with increasing frequency whether The New York Times, where I serve as publisher, is prepared for the possibility that a similar campaign against the free press could be embraced here in the United States, despite our country’s proud tradition of recognizing the essential role journalism plays in supporting a strong democracy and a free people,” he wrote. “'It’s not a crazy question.'”

"Trump and his allies have hinted at their plans to increase attacks on the media," Sulzberger wrote, pointing to the former president’s comment last year in which he said, “When I win the presidency of the United States, they [Comcast] and others of the LameStream Media will be thoroughly scrutinized for their knowingly dishonest and corrupt coverage of people, things and events.”

President Trump's new head of the Federal Communications Commission, Brendan Carr, has ordered an investigation of NPR and PBS, with an eye toward unraveling federal funding for all public broadcasting.

"I am concerned that NPR and PBS broadcasts could be violating federal law by airing commercials," Chairman Brendan Carr wrote on Wednesday to the presidents and chief executives of NPR and PBS, Katherine Maher and Paula A. Kerger, respectively. "In particular, it is possible that NPR and PBS member stations are broadcasting underwriting announcements that cross the line into prohibited commercial advertisements."

What Carr refers to as "advertisements" is actually "underwriting" by corporations interested in keeping entities like NPR and PBS viable since only 1% of their funding comes from federal and state governments.

The complaints against NPR and PBS had been initiated during Trump's first term, but dropped when Biden was President as was a similar complaint against Fox News.

Trump's new head of the FCC reinstituted the investigations into NPR and PBS, but did not do the same with Rupert Murdoch's Fox News, an obvious Trump propaganda machine that reached a $487M settlement for lies with respect to the Dominion election machines.

During the next four years, the citizenry will need absolute vigilance to prevent Trump from dismantling our Constitution, trampling on the rights of a Free Press while morphing from President to dictator.

                    

Adolf Hitler, Viktor Orban, Donald Trump, Joseph Stalin: All enemies of the Free Press

𝗧𝗛𝗘 "𝗪𝗢𝗡𝗗𝗘𝗥 𝗕𝗢𝗬," 𝗟𝗨𝗞𝗔 𝗗𝗢𝗡𝗖𝗜𝗖, 𝗝𝗢𝗜𝗡𝗦 𝗟𝗘𝗕𝗥𝗢𝗡 𝗝𝗔𝗠𝗘𝗦 𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗟𝗢𝗦 𝗔𝗡𝗚𝗘𝗟𝗘𝗦 𝗟𝗔𝗞𝗘𝗥𝗦

 

top left to right: Luka landing in Los Angeles Sunday night, Luka and Dirk, Luka and Coach Pop. . bottom: Luka and the late Kobe Bryant

The "Wonder Boy," Luka Doncic, has joined the Los Angeles Lakers.  Magic Johnson is slapping his 12 foot ceilings while Jack Nicholson orders champagne.

It's incredulous that any NBA team would willingly depart from a 25 year old superstar, but that's just what the Dallas Mavericks did, citing Luka's repeated failure to monitor his own fitness, health and conditioning.  Sunday night, the Mavericks traded Doncic essentially for Laker's star Anthony Davis in a quiet behind-the-scenes deal, although, had they simply put Doncic out for bids, the haul of first round draft picks and players would have been record-setting. 

Not defending Doncic's seeming disregard for training and conditioning, but, perhaps it's hard to get motivated when any day of the week you can just roll out of bed and easily score on the world's most elite athletes, the players of the National Basketball Association.

Luka has been playing basketball against grown men since the age of 13 when he signed a five year contract with Real Madrid of the European League.  By 17 he was a league all-star and at 18, the MVP while his team won a league championship.

In the 2024 playoffs, Luka led the Dallas Mavericks past the Los Angeles Clippers, Phoenix Suns and Minnesota Timberwolves before losing to the Boston Celtics in the NBA finals as Doncic limped on a gimpy knee covered with bloody gauze.

Doncic's has been on the injured list since Christmas, but flew into LA Sunday night to join the Lakers.  Having observed this young man carefully for several years now and his competitive spirit, Doncic will likely be on an absolute mission. 

                      

On the left: Luka with his dad, Sasa Doncic, a basketball coach.  On the right, his mom, Mirjam Poterbin, a owner of beauty salons

"𝗞𝗡𝗢𝗪 𝗬𝗢𝗨𝗥 𝗥𝗜𝗚𝗛𝗧𝗦" 𝗖𝗔𝗥𝗗𝗦 𝗗𝗜𝗦𝗧𝗥𝗜𝗕𝗨𝗧𝗘𝗗 𝗪𝗜𝗧𝗛𝗜𝗡 𝗟𝗢𝗦 𝗔𝗡𝗚𝗘𝗟𝗘𝗦 𝗨𝗡𝗜𝗙𝗜𝗘𝗗 𝗦𝗖𝗛𝗢𝗢𝗟 𝗗𝗜𝗦𝗧𝗥𝗜𝗖𝗧

 

𝗧𝗥𝗨𝗠𝗣 𝗧𝗔𝗞𝗘𝗦 𝗔 𝗪𝗥𝗘𝗖𝗞𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗕𝗔𝗟𝗟 𝗧𝗢 𝗨.𝗦. 𝗘𝗖𝗢𝗡𝗢𝗠𝗬 𝗕𝗬 𝗔𝗦𝗦𝗘𝗦𝗦𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗧𝗔𝗥𝗜𝗙𝗙𝗦 𝗢𝗡 𝗜𝗠𝗣𝗢𝗥𝗧𝗘𝗗 𝗚𝗢𝗢𝗗𝗦 𝗙𝗥𝗢𝗠 𝗖𝗔𝗡𝗔𝗗𝗔, 𝗠𝗘𝗫𝗜𝗖𝗢 𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗖𝗛𝗜𝗡𝗔

 

Bullheadedly, like a crazed buffoon, President Trump is going ahead with tariffs effective Tuesday, December 4; 25% on goods imported from Canada and Mexico, our friends, but only 10% on merchandise coming from China, our foe(Canadian energy is tariffed at 10%).

Expect for Trump to get spooked quickly when prices rise precipitously after all the guy was elected on the promise of lowering prices.

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has already responded, saying that her government sought dialogue rather than confrontation, but that Mexico will be forced to respond with tariffs of their own.  It should be noted that Mexico has overtaken China as America's leading trading partner.  

"I've instructed my economy minister to implement the plan B we've been working on, which includes tariff and non-tariff measures in defense of Mexico's interest," Sheinbaum stated.

Reportedly, Mexico is preparing retaliatory tariffs of 5% to 20% on pork, cheese, fresh produce, steel and aluminum.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has responded by implementing a 25% tariff on $155B in goods shipped from the U.S. to Canada with more penalties on the way. 

 

The Canadian leader said tariffs would include American beer, wine and bourbon, as well as fruits and fruit juices, including orange juice from Trump's home state of Florida. Canada would also target goods including clothing, sports equipment and household appliances.

Consumers will quickly learn that Trump has simply been lying about tariffs in claiming that other countries paid for them.  No, boys and girls, we will pay for these tariffs with higher prices.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~𝗥𝗘𝗦𝗖𝗨𝗘𝗗 𝗙𝗥𝗢𝗠 𝗟𝗜𝗙𝗘'𝗦 𝗟𝗢𝗪𝗘𝗦𝗧 𝗣𝗢𝗜𝗡𝗧 𝗕𝗬 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗕𝗟𝗨𝗘𝗦

 

"The Blues will make you happy,

The Blues will make you sad"

I don't agree with the lines above.  For me, the blues go to the exact point of sadness you feel or want to feel.  At your discretion, you can allow the music to lift you from that melancholy or just stay down low if you like.

But, sometimes you don't want to be cheered up or lifted, but just have the darkness of the moment reinforced, made real.  Yes, the blues can do that.

Many years ago, at a very sad time in our lives, we saw a poster in a drug store window advertising a blues concert at Little Rock's Riverside Park, featuring Buddy Guy, with John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers the opening act.  We bought tickets.

Riverside Park is just a grassy field with a stage butted up against the Levee of the Arkansas River with the curved banks of the grassy levee giving out a sort of amphitheater feel.  Three or four boats were in the water behind the stage.  We walked past all the folk, with their blankets, picnic baskets and beer, going right up to the  stage's edge.

I'd seen pictures of John Mayall over the years, but his appearance stunned me.  He was damn old, yes, an old white man, but a blues pioneer. His set was flawless.

After Mayall, stagehands rushed the stage to reset for Buddy Guy.

"Don't touch that amp!" we heard Mayall shout as he ran to disconnect his own equipment.

"I don't let anyone touch my stuff," Mayall explained.

Another stagehand approached us:  "I don't want to be an asshole," he said, "but Buddy likes to exit the stage right where you guys are standing and go out into the audience.  Would you two mind moving back a little?"

We complied with that polite request.

The sun seemed be going down extra fast over Little Rock and the crowd was getting antsy.

"Buddy!!!!" some guys were calling out, but the guy was nowhere to be seen.

Soon, the performer was right in front of us, with gleaming white teeth and a matching white t-shirt under his overalls, like thunder preceding a lightning bolt, his guitar shocked us, twice the intensity of Mayall's with a deep, resonant voice to match:

"You damn right, I've got the blues

From my head down to my shoes

You damn right, I've got the blues

From my head down to my shoes

I can't win, 'cause I don't have a thing to lose

I stopped by my daughter's house

You know I just want to use the phone

I stopped by my daughter's house

You know I just want to use the phone

You know my new grandbaby came to the door

And said, granddaddy, you know ain't no one at home

I said now look out

You damn right, I've got the blues

From my head down to my shoes"

𝗖𝗢𝗥𝗘 𝗩𝗔𝗟𝗨𝗘𝗦 𝗢𝗙 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗙.𝗕.𝗜. 𝗕𝗘𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗣𝗔𝗜𝗡𝗧𝗘𝗗 𝗢𝗩𝗘𝗥 𝗔𝗧 𝗙.𝗕.𝗜. 𝗔𝗖𝗔𝗗𝗘𝗠𝗬